1981 Strabane District Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 15 seats to Strabane District Council
8 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP DUP Independent Nationalist
Seats won 4 4 4
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 2 Increase 1
  Fourth party
 
Party Ulster Unionist
Seats won 3
Seat change Decrease 2

Elections to Strabane District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 15 councillors.

Election results

Strabane District Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Independent Nationalist 4 1 0 Increase1 26.7 26.1 4,459 Increase11.2
  DUP 4 2 0 Increase2 26.7 25.1 4,287 Increase11.5
  SDLP 4 0 1 Decrease1 26.7 22.8 3,889 Decrease7.7
  Ulster Unionist 3 0 2 Decrease1 20.0 20.7 3,545 Decrease8.8
  Independent 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.9 326 Decrease3.0
  Anti H-Block 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.7 296 New
  Alliance 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.7 288 Decrease1.3

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Strabane District Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
DUP SDLP UUP Others
Area A 35.4 2 17.2 1 25.2 1 22.2 1 5
Area B 30.9 2 24.3 1 27.3 1 17.5 1 5
Area C 7.0 0 27.3 2 8.5 1 57.2 2 5
Total 25.1 4 22.8 4 20.7 3 31.4 4 15

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Independent Nationalist Denis McCrory* 22.11% 1,320      
DUP Thomas Kerrigan 20.46% 1,221      
SDLP Mary McCrea 17.24% 1,029      
DUP Robert Anderson 9.72% 580 581 602.6 1,070.22
Ulster Unionist Edward Turner* 13.94% 832 882 892.26 908.42
Ulster Unionist Ernest Young* 11.26% 672 738 747.36 754.62
DUP David Baird 5.28% 315 321 497.22  
Electorate: 7,833   Valid: 5,969 (76.20%)   Spoilt: 193   Quota: 995   Turnout: 6,162 (78.67%)  

Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
SDLP John Gallagher* 18.92% 1,101  
Independent Nationalist Francis McConnell* 17.44% 1,015  
Ulster Unionist Mary Britton* 16.91% 984  
DUP Samuel Rogers* 16.72% 973  
DUP George McIntyre* 14.21% 827 832
Ulster Unionist Henry Henderson* 10.43% 607 624
SDLP Mary McAleer 5.38% 313  
Electorate: 7,050   Valid: 5,820 (82.55%)   Spoilt: 177   Quota: 971   Turnout: 5,997 (85.06%)  

Area C

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP

Strabane Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Independent Nationalist James O'Kane 27.52% 1,459                    
Independent Nationalist John O'Kane* 7.89% 418 818.98 826.8 836.62 857.54 890.18          
SDLP Paul O'Hare 11.32% 600 659.45 666.27 670.27 682.91 688.32 836.83 902.83      
SDLP William Flanagan 10.90% 578 599.73 601.14 605.14 610.55 619.78 727.29 790.16 807.96 886.96  
Ulster Unionist Robert Fleming* 8.49% 450 450.82 451.82 467.23 472.23 473.23 473.23 475.64 475.94 555.35 562.35
DUP Desmond Monteith 7.00% 371 371.41 371.41 377.41 385.41 394.41 394.41 394.41 394.41 397.41 399.41
Anti H-Block William Gallagher 5.58% 296 305.84 313.84 313.84 315.84 331.25 333.25 382.89 385.49 385.49  
Alliance Patrick Wallace 5.43% 288 304.4 308.81 319.22 339.86 343.86 349.09 370.14 374.04    
Independent Nationalist John McCrory 4.66% 247 264.63 272.04 276.04 289.09 303.91 312.32        
SDLP Jane O'Donnell 5.06% 268 280.3 280.71 281.71 288.94 294.94          
Independent Michael Dunne 2.17% 115 119.92 123.92 131.92 131.92            
Independent David Fleming 1.81% 96 108.71 109.71 110.71              
Independent William Crichton 1.36% 72 73.64 73.64                
Independent John Tracey 0.81% 43 46.28                  
Electorate: 7,630   Valid: 5,301 (69.48%)   Spoilt: 146   Quota: 884   Turnout: 5,447 (71.39%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Election 1973-1981: Strabane". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
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